Training to be English teacher

[absolutelyflawed]

Hi - I’m going to be training to be a secondary school English teacher but my degree isn’t in English ( I have English A level)
What questions am I likely to be asked at interview?

What would be good reasons for saying I want to teach English?

Any other ways to prepare?

What do you enjoy about teaching English?

Thank you.

I have heard the same issue with MFL grads who have non traditional MFL degrees and then don't want to/can't teach the Lit content at A Level.

Only if you want to be the SLT member in charge of spreadsheets. If you want to be SLT in charge of anything else, you need to be PE.

Completely true IME too, especially in Primary and especially especially if you're male with PE. Basically, get through your NQT year without doing anything disastrous, and step away from the class towards the fancy coffee machine.

EstebanTheMagnificent
It's reasonable to have an English department made up of a range of English degrees, in fact it's quite beneficial. The best departments I've worked in have had breadth in background. It means that students get specialists at post 16 (just like in the sciences). It also means there's staff who are well versed in the grammatical content from ks2 and can apply that to the KS3 curriculum, staff can upskill each other, share the load on planning etc.

All staff have a responsibility to have good subject knowledge. It's much harder to plan good lessons, especially as a trainee/NQT, without a degree in the subject.

It. The literature specialist

I completely agree, @LolaSmiles. I was the person on the panel arguing for the linguistics specialist’s appointment and I’m very glad to say that I was vindicated. I’m just pointing out that it’s rarely considered a problem for English specialists to have minimal formal training in grammar, for example.

They are as rare as hen’s teeth in the state sector but if you can get hold of them then Classicists can make superb English teachers.

EstebanTheMagnificent
It's an area overlooked too often, I agree.

I've been in 11-18 schools most recently and we've always had a broad spectrum of specialists. It makes me wonder if language/linguistics specialists tend to lurk in 11-18 schools and post 16 because of the A Level teaching.

This thread is hilarious in a good way - the OP came, posted, and buggered off never to return (maybe reading some Shakespeare now?) - and a load of teachers arrived, put the kettle on, shared out the jammy dodgers, budged up to make room on the comfy chairs and just started chatting about teaching in general

One member of our English department has a combined LangLit degree and we're always bothering her with our linguistics questions.

load of teachers arrived, put the kettle on, shared out the jammy dodgers, budged up to make room on the comfy chairs and just started chatting about teaching in general
Very true.
It's a nice introduction to teaching for the OP. We're a good crowd really.

Though it might give the OP food for thought on their subject knowledge before applying.

It's a nice introduction to teaching for the OP.

Exactly! It's one of the things I love about teaching.

I'd also like to recommend the Alex Quigley book. It's fantastic.
There is a real need for affordable subject specific cpd. Princes Trust is good but expensive. I'm off to the Team English National Conference in the summer and I can't wait.

I was thinking this early newcross

I got confused looking at your username and your post and my brain convinced me it said the only living member of the English department

Great great article in the ST yesterday about how reading complex texts is a better self help than any self help book, specifically Dickens and some lovely stuff about dementia patients.

Our head of classics is a physics teacher, although I am sure he could teach English.

I got confused looking at your username and your post and my brain convinced me it said the only living member of the English department

Well, some days I wouldn't bet against it

Just kidding: I love (nearly) all of my departmental colleagues.

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross it is a great song though

It's one of my favourites. Brings back memories of uni

I sing it in my head every time I see your username

I only have French A level but teach it up to Foundation GCSE. I wouldn't feel comfortable with Higher tier. I have a master's in German though. I have heard many a story of MFL teachers having to teach a language they don't know and just managing to stay one page ahead of the kids!

Find this very interesting.

Am an English (subject, not nationality) teacher in Scotland, and in Scotland we cannot teach a subject without having a subject-specific degree, at least in the subject we initially qualify in.

If I wanted to add Drama or Media to my bow (I don't), I'd have to go through another period of probation and have my HT sign off on it after I'd taught a certain amount of hours.

The idea of being responsible for an exam-level class in a subject we don't have degrees in would have our unions quivering in indignation.

How many of you are teaching subjects without a degree in said subject?

Me.. two subjects. Scotland possibly has a slightly narrower range of subjects , so maybe not so many weird or new fangled subjects people don't have degrees in? For example, film studies. Not many teachers have degrees in that.

At my school it’s not unusual to have random stuff put on your timetable. We have lost staff over it, so probably not the best tactic.

I have taught RS up to GCSE level. I don't have RS at GCSE myself. My results were good though. I do, however, have an MA which covered philosophy and ethics. So loosely speaking I have a relevant qualification. More relevant at A Level as it happens.

I had DT put on my timetable once. I’m a physics teacher but the DT teacher left after recruiting 26 year 10 boys to the gcse course.
I stopped studying it when I was in year 9 and it was called CDT then!
Genuinely didn’t know how to use any of the big pieces of equipment- so we didn’t (I didn’t know how to be safe).
Those poor boys were totally let down by the system (in many ways).

I taught year 9 German also, and drama at A Level. There is an assumption all English teachers can teach drama.

In the olden days I was fine for German , but I couldn't do it now : not only has my German faded but the expectations of the teaching are so much higher. My primary gaol used to be to have them enjoy learning a language . This is No Longer Allowed.

In fact my aim altogether, if I think it through, is to inculcate love - or at least not antipathy- for reading and literature and writing (if I come back to the OP!). I do feel if you asked your average trainee that question now, they would automatically slip into assessment speak. And stuff about disadvantage, literacy and employability, possibly.

Primary goal! Spellcheck thinks I want to imprison them! Freudian slip...